On May 29th 2019, the European Commission published the Progress Report for the Republic of North Macedonia, assessing the country’s progress to meeting the requirements for membership in the European Union.
Chapter 6 of the Report assesses the work of the Council for the Advancement and Oversight of the Audit of the Republic of North Macedonia as an independent regulatory body.
This report also recommends the adoption of an Audit Law for the introduction of an effective system of investigations and sanctions. The report states that the Council for the Advancement and Oversight of the Audit acts as an independent body and that preparations are underway for a formal request for the award of equivalence and adequacy by the Commission. The Institute of Certified Auditors is responsible for certifying and training auditors and for recognizing their qualifications (which the Council oversees). According to the Report, Public Interest Entities are defined in the audit law, which has some specific requirements for their legal review (for example, the obligation to set up an audit committee and mandatory rotation of auditors). The statutory audit is performed according to the adopted international auditing standards. In general, further efforts are needed to align with the latest acquis on corporate accounting and statutory audit.
For more information, read the Progress Report.